Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman nonetheless escaped the South of the US and travelled alone over 100 miles on foot to the first free state, Philadelphia. But finding it impossible to enjoy her freedom while others were enslaved, she returned as a fugitive over 13 times to dangerous Confederate states, helping more than 70 people escape in the years before the Civil War. In a performance that seems to glow from within, Erivo embodies the scale of defiant, clear-minded will that helped Tubman achieve the seemingly impossible, and she’s ably abetted by an impressive ensemble including Janelle Monáe, Joe Alwyn and Clarke Peters. And who better to bring this story to the screen than Eve’s Bayou director Kasi Lemmons (whose own achievement of being one of the few female directors of colour in Hollywood for decades is also a defiant act of heroism). A timely and stirring reminder than sometimes the most powerful thing in the world is one individual with a will. BUY TICKETS HERE
Dir Kasi Lemmons Prod Debra Martin Chase, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Gregory Allen Howard Scr Kasi Lemmons, Gregory Allen Howard
With Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr
USA 2019 125 min
